The other day I asked one of my girlfriends how she was doing. This friend knew I was asking about her desire to walk with God. Her response broke my heart. “Not good,” she said. “I mean, I want to pray and I’ll try to pray… but then I’ll go days without praying or reading my Bible and…” When her voice trailed off, I pressed gently,

Not long ago, I used my camera phone to videotape my grandson drawing one of his beloved trucks in addition to taking a picture of it. I felt like it’d be good to have evidence of our three year old Picasso at work to document his age with the artwork. Seriously, he’s that good. Grant creates on one of those drawing toys that look like

Last week I posted a picture to my sisters on social media of the cutest baby frog. I found him in the backyard while playing tennis with Stinkier Than She Oughta Be after three recent baths. Yes, I’m throwing that remark at Dixie Belle. The dog has a stash of Deadly Cologne hidden in this yard somewhere and she keeps dousing herself in the mystery

You wouldn’t know it now, but there was a time when my middle sister was easily intimidated. This is ancient history, but during our entire growing up years, the one they nicknamed Pretty Woman, didn’t like to go anywhere unless I went with her. As a teenager, if I arrived somewhere first, Rhonda always wanted me to wait at the door so she could go

When my kids were born neither of them could talk. It irritated me. It was even worse when they began to form silly little syllables like "ma-ma" and "da-da". I had no patience for it. I decided not to give them anything until they asked for it correctly! Jessica, being the oldest, eventually learned to talk before Phillip. That was nice. After that, I didn't

Dixie Belle and I had quite an object lesson during our early morning devotional. At least I did. It’s unclear whether my trouble making canine got the memo. But, I should start at the beginning. I was knee-deep in prayer when Dixie, who’d been sniffing around in the nearby shrubs, trotted out carrying a prize between her teeth. A pair of angry mockingbirds squawking, circling, and

My heart went out to the adorable little girl in the tiny swimsuit. She was all of three years old and she was not happy, not one bit. It appeared she had no plans to get happy, either—at least not during swimming lessons. She was crying when she arrived with her grandmother and she refused all consolation during the lesson. But, here’s the curious part.

The infamous heat of our Louisiana summers has arrived. My present idea of beating the heat is tied to the ac, with a few exceptions for the beach, a pool, or a boat, but years ago my sisters and I would endure these stifling conditions to play outdoors. Of course, this was often because Mama had told us we could find something to do outside

Last week we were talking about commitment when we ran slap out of time. We’d been discussing the tentative two-step that often happens between business parties that are considering signing their names to a new deal and how it’s common for those involved to dance around a full commitment while they try and decide whether they’re in or out. My contention was that while this

I’m expecting the phone to ring any minute. It will be a conference call and a fairly important one. There will be three of us on the line and one subject on our minds. We’ll all be testing the waters, in our own ways, to determine if our partnership would be a good fit, and if we should work together on a looming project. Forgive